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Attracting prospective students could be difficult and expensive. Candidates, when choosing a future school for their studies, consider a great number of factors. Information from official university websites don´t suffice to persuade. Among others, the word of mouth plays a significant role. The aim of this paper is to present findings about important factors influencing the overall satisfaction of current students with university life as well as their willingness to share positive references. The study took place in the Czech Republic with students attending business schools at universities. Primary data was collected via online questionnaire with students of bachelor’s master’s, and doctor degrees (n = 274) and in-depth interviews (n = 10). Data was processed with regression analysis and Spearman’s correlation coefficient. The main findings suggest that there is a close positive correlation between students’ satisfaction and the willingness to recommend the university. The quality of student life and the reputation of the school were identified as the most important factors influencing this satisfaction and willingness to recommend.

Conspicuous consumption is constantly evolving due to the availability of goods and the technology development. People have many opportunities to express their values, beliefs, and personalities through product and price is no longer the main factors determining whether a product is suitable for conspicuous consumption. With the development of social networks such as Instagram, the influence of recommendations by influencers are gaining momentum. By consuming similar products (and brands) as those consumed by influencers, consumers seek to demonstrate their similarity to influencers and thus join a particular social group. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between influencer marketing and the perception of sports products as conspicuous and to specify the purchasing behavior for sportswear. Primary data were collected using an online questionnaire focusing on Generation Z (n = 240) and in-depth interviews (n = 10). The questionnaire was based on previous studies of conspicuousness and status consumption and included a set of 22 statements. Data were processed using a factorial analysis in which statements were grouped into several main factors. These factors were examined through regression analysis, with the explanatory variable being the tendency toward conspicuous consumption. Although, the quantitative data analysis did not reveal a tendency toward conspicuous consumption of sports products, the qualitative analysis supports this relationship.

Wolframin (Wfs1) is a membrane protein of the sarco/endoplasmic reticulum. Wfs1 mutations are responsible for the Wolfram syndrome, characterized by diabetic and neurological symptoms. Although Wfs1 is expressed in cardiac muscle, its role in this tissue is not clear. We have characterized the effect of invalidation of Wfs1 on calcium signaling-related processes in isolated ventricular myocytes of exon5-Wfs1 deficient rats (Wfs1-e5/-e5) before the onset of overt disease. Calcium transients and contraction were measured in field-stimulated isolated myocytes using confocal microscopy with calcium indicator fluo-3 AM and sarcomere length detection. Calcium currents and their calcium release-dependent inactivation were characterized in whole-cell patch-clamp experiments. At 4 months, Wfs1-e5/-e5 animals were euglycemic, and echocardiographic examination revealed fully compensated cardiac function. In field-stimulated isolated ventricular myocytes, both the amplitude and the duration of contraction of Wfs1-e5/-e5 animals were elevated relative to control Wfs1+/+ littermates. Increased contractility of myocytes resulted largely from prolonged cytosolic calcium transients. Neither the amplitude of calcium currents nor their voltage dependence of activation differed between the two groups. Calcium currents in Wfs1-e5/-e5 myocytes showed a larger extent of inactivation by short voltage prepulses applied to selectively induce calcium release-dependent inactivation of calcium current. Neither the calcium content of the sarcoplasmic reticulum, measured by application of 20 mmol/l caffeine, nor the expression of SERCA2, determined from Western blots, differed significantly in myocytes of Wfs1-e5/-e5 animals compared to control ones. These experiments point to increased duration of calcium release in ventricular myocytes of Wfs1-e5/-e5 animals. We speculate that the lack of functional wolframin might cause changes leading to upregulation of RyR2 channels resulting in prolongation of channel openings and/or a delay in termination of calcium release.

The major functions of granulosa cells (GCs) include the production of steroids, as well as a myriad of growth factors to interact with the oocyte during its development within the ovarian follicle. Also FSH stimulates GCs to convert androgens (coming from the thecal cells) to estradiol by aromatase. However, after ovulation the GCs produce progesterone that may maintain a potential pregnancy. Experiments with human GCs are mainly focused on the purification of GCs from ovarian follicular fluid followed by FACS analysis or short-term cultivation. The aim of our study was to cultivate GCs for a long period, to characterize their morphology and phenotype. Moreover, we have cultivated GCs under gonadotropin stimulation in order to simulate different pathological mechanisms during folliculogenesis (e.g. ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome). GCs were harvested from women undergoing in vitro fertilization. Complex oocyte-cumulus oophorus was dissociated by hyaluronidase. The best condition for transport of GCs was optimized as short transport in follicular fluid at 37 °C. GCs expansion medium consisted of DMEM/F12, 2 % FCS, ascorbic acid, dexamethasone, L-glutamine, gentamycine, penicillin, streptomycin and growth factors (EGF, bFGF). GCs transported in follicular fluid and cultivated in 2 % FCS containing DMEM/F12 medium supplemented with follicular fluid presented increased adhesion, proliferation, viability and decreased doubling time. Cell viability was 92 % and mean cell doubling time was 52 hrs. We have optimized transport and cultivation protocols for long-term cultivation of GCs.